The Herkules first appears when Alek and his men have reached the Swiss border. The walker is sitting on the border, waiting for them to arrive. The Herkules sends out its scouts, which shoot flares at the Stormwalker. The walker is seen to have deployed a command tent and a small cargo walker.

The Herkules has scouts who ride mechanical horses with one headlight. With a rider, the scouts resemble centaurs.

The scouts do not actually have weapons, but instead shoot phosphorous flares. One of the flares hits the Stormwalker, and gets stuck there. Alek must cut it off with an antique sword that his father left with Volger. If Alek failed, the flare would constantly show Herkules's where the Stormwalker is. Alek succeeds and the Stormwalker escapes the Herkules. Later in the book, the Herkules is part of the German attack on the downed Leviathan. The Herkules almost sets the hydrogen-filled Leviathan alight, but the Leviathan, newly freed from the weight of some of the gold Volger snuck a board, barely clears the shells.